Gun shot wounds to the femur artery of the human body cause death in most cases. Body armor has existed for many years, but undergarment body armor for the lower portion of the body, particularly to cover the artery of the femur has not traditionally existed.
The concept was developed to provide protection to the thighs, lower abdomen and hamstring area of the leg. The undergarment can be made of a sturdy, breathable material, similar to athletic undergarments.
The major types of conventional body armor are Over-clothing Body Armor or externally worn body armor, as typically seen in the movies for swat team shots, hereinafter referred to as OBA, and concealable body armor normally worn under a shirt, hereinafter referred to as UBA
Over-clothing body armor is generally bulky, heavy, and sometimes very conspicuous when worn. The military and law enforcement versions of OBA include flack jackets or body armor. For civilian clothing use, versions of OBA have been made to look like cold weather coats or jackets to provide less conspicuous protection when required. However, cold weather coats worn during warm weather are not inconspicuous. The business suit jacket is a more versatile, less conspicuous configuration of OBA, but this configuration lacks frontal below the belt protection, which is considered by many to be a most vital area.
Existing concealable body armor typically weighs 4 to 10 pounds, creates body -heat build up, and restricts the movement of the user due to the UBA material""s inflexibility. Another major disadvantage of UBA is its difficulty to put on and take off since it is worn under other clothing. Additionally, there is only one form of UBA which is available for use xe2x80x9cbelow the belt and it is a cumbersome apron like device which is difficult to move in and adjust.
The numerous disadvantages of conventional UBA result in the reluctance of an individual to wear the equipment unless the user feels substantially threatened. This results in the user taking risks of not wearing body armor when it is warranted.
Vascular injuries to the lower abdomen and lower extremities carry a high mortality rate. In a study at Ben Taub Hospital, of Houston, Tex., of 600 patients with penetrating trauma to the iliac vessels and femoral arteries, 39% died within 30 days of injury. In certain cases of penetrating trauma to the iliac vessels, cardiac arrest occurred within 6 to 8 minutes of impact.
The present invention relates to an under body garment which provides protection over the femur artery, the femoral artery path and yet is light, and breathable so that a user will actually wear it during duty.
There are many patents in the body armor area, see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,811, 5,373,582, 5,443,882, 5,443,883, 5,471,906, 6,026,510, 5,996,115 5, 970,513, 5,829,653, all incorporated by reference.
The invention relates to undergarment body armor which comprises one or two or more ballistic protection pads which have from 13 to 22 layers of ballistic material although 13 to 18 layers is the most preferred, and wherein the pads are shaped to cover a wearer""s femoral artery path, and other vital areas of the lower torso, particularly the pelvic area. In a preferred embodiment, the invention is directed to elastic shorts adapted to hold the multilayer ballistic protection pads in closable pockets created into the elastic shorts.